Monday, 14 January 2013

English Reflection by sean lim

I have learnt that there are actually many types of words that have their own specific purpose in a sentence and that English language is not all about grammar and vocabulary. It is also about communication. And for communication, there are also many types of text types and genres in any language or speech situation, those text types and genres are called discourse features.

I'm gonna just give a slight run through on what some discourse features are...

Ellipsis- It is used by the speaker and it is actually elapsing part of a full sentence and make it shorter, but still carrying the same meaning. It is extremely helpful in getting people to understand what you want to tell them fast.

Back Channel - It is used by the listener to show that he is actually listening to the speaker and is giving his/her full attention. This (from my perspective) actually helps to build up the speaker's confidence in continuing on to speak as he would know that the listeners are actually listening and are interested.

Discourse Markers- It helps to mark the boundaries in the sentence, this is useful when telling stories as it would mark the end of a scene and give the keep the listeners interested to find out what happens next.

Hedging- Used my speaker when he/she wants to beat about the bush by giving an unclear answer.

There are many Disclosed features and each and every one of them has its own purpose. The only thing that surprises me is that every single word in a sentence has its own meaning and purpose, the urge to master all of the terms in English drives me to learn more!! Teacher, Keep it coming please!!! :D